On Euclid Avenue just south of College there is a lane that runs towards Palmerston Avenue. I am not sure if it has a name (Paese Lane is the extension of this lane on the other side of Euclid). As you can see, there are now some murals in this lane.

At Bloor and Brunswick, by the entrance to Leah Cohen Lane there is a new mural that pays homage to Brunswick House whose walls it is painted on. The three storey brick building dates from 1907 but there was a “Brunswick House” pub/hotel on this site from 1876 to 2016. It is now a drug store.

At one point in history, one of Toronto’s most popular venues for jazz and blues was Albert Hall which was upstairs at the Brunswick House.

I didn’t know it at the time I took the photos, but apparently the piano keys are fitted with NFC chips. If you visit the mural, you can use your Android phone to interact with the mural to learn more about the blues, the building, and the people who played there.

Recently, Art Eggleton Lane, south off Harbord Street, was the site of the third annual butterfly laneway painting project organized by Nick Sweetman with help from StreetARToronto and the David Suzuki Foundation.

Caterpillars and butterflies is the theme of the latest laneway painting project. A year ago, Nick Sweetman led a group of street artists who painted garage doors in a lane near Garrison Creek park with pictures of butterflies. These murals appeared in blog post in June 2017

This year’s project was similar. Many of the same artists were involved again this year. They used garages, fences and gates in a lane near Felstead Park (a block south of Greenwood subway station) as their canvas. Once again, the theme was butterflies as it too was part of the David Suzuki Foundation’s butterflyways project. This time, a similar blue background was used in all the murals which has given it a more unified appearance.

The project was curated by Nick Sweetman and it had the support of Start aka StreetARToronto

below: Felstead Park, by @braes_ack

below: In the shadow of the weed are the letters CTR

below: Mural signed by Kehoe, the face of David Suzuki

below: Green and yellow toadstools by mska

below: Mural by @oriah_scott

below: butterfly among the pink and red flowers, by P.S. aka Phillip Saunders

below: A sombre dark piece (is it finished?) by @poserabm

below: Three butterflies by Serina

below: Collaboration – A monarch painted by Nick Sweetman and a wonderful rose by Wales

below: A bright and busy mural by Spyone and Tensoe

below: The hookah-smoking caterpillar from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is crawling across the fence. Painted by elicser

below: Red panda out on a limb, perhaps chasing the butterfly, by Ted Hamer (@The1astRonin)

below: A butterfly in the garden; the work of Anya Mielniczek

below: Two flowers, one pink and one blue, by Chris Perez

below: It looks a lot like a skull on the back of this butterfly painted by @cmazzulla aka Christine Mazzulla

below: A curled up caterpillar in pink and black, very larger than life!, by Spud.

below: By Dezed, a butterly, mushrooms, and a bit of water

below: Reaching out to the butterfly, giving the butterfly a helping hand, painted by @drippin_soul (Kalkidan Assefa)

below: On the right, Emma, the property owner’s dog who died recently. Nick Sweetman painted the dog while @mr_tensoe2 painted the dog’s name

More of the bents holding up the road that passes over Underpass Park in Corktown are in the process of being painted. Back in 2015, the bents and pillars on the west side of Lower River Street were painted as part of the Pan Am games preparations. The latest mural project involves the bents closer to St. Lawrence Street.

below: Looking east towards Lower River Street, skateboarders in the park behind a mural by Chief Ladybird and Aura. In the background is a pink elephant by Christopher Ross.

below: And the other. The mural is accompanied by a Robert Browning quote: “Grow old with me, the best is yet to be.”

below: At the far west end, a gruesome spike being plunged into a heart.

The project is managed by Mural Routes and is part of the StreetARToronto Partnership Program in collaboration with the Corktown Residents and Business Association, the City of Toronto Parks Department, and Relay 2017 – Friends of the PanAm Path.

below: Just starting, background figures in white

***

This is the fourth blog post about the murals at Underpass Park. Others are: